February 24, 2008

...and well. Haven't written since moving to San Francisco, and for lack of a better place to begin, I thought I'd start by sharing some of the more recent activities that have been keeping me gleefully preoccupied, and work backwards (read: SF cupcake tasting still has yet to be chronicled).

Please, try to contain your excitement, hb.

Yesterday: SF Freeze flash mob, at the Powell St. cablecar turnaround. Stood still in the rain, nose running and tears streaming for five minutes while unamused shoppers pushed past. My housemate and her brother had planned to pose jousting with umbrellas, and I ended up holding mine out as a shield. Passersby got increasingly annoyed--"what is this?" "get out of the way" "fucking move"--and I started asking myself: Really? Are you really willing to get poked in the eye with an umbrella spoke for the sake of a performance art? Er, no. Definitely outside the comfort zone, and not something I would've done on my own, but ultimately was glad to be a part of it, risking loss of sight notwithstanding.

Here's a really well composed photo, and some low-res video below. Neither capture this punk/Victorian-esque style couple that stood nearby me, frozen in a kiss for the full five minutes beneath an inside-out umbrella.

And finally: Just so I don't look like a shill for Laughing Squid, there's McDonald's in Chinatown for the New Year's celebration.

They were out in full force with a hidg-ous float and colossal puffy happy meal box-shaped tent, complete with flags advertising their offensive "i-am-asian" sitelet. They've actually trademarked the phrase. Mmm, have some cultural appropriation with your Big Mac. Oh, and don't miss their tagline: "i aim to be the best." It's okay to perpetuate the "overachiever" stereotype, cause it's not racist if it's a compliment, right guys?! McVom.